Pet owners often desire to take their pets along with them when they are running errands, traveling, exercising, and so on, for many reasons including companionship, exercise and providing the pet with a change of environment. A pet can accompany the pet owner reasonably easily when in a car, but it is more difficult if the pet owner is using a motorcycle, scooter, ATV, bicycle or other such vehicle. Oftentimes, in particular, dog owners like to take their dog with them when they are bicycling. The dog may be able to keep up with the cyclist for a while, but eventually the dog may need a rest well before the cyclist is ready to stop. As a result, the cyclist may decide not to take the dog along on the ride, may overwork the dog, or make too many stops to be enjoyable for the cyclist. To this end, the owner may resort to using a pet transporter.
Pet or dog transporter devices are known in the art. Such a device may make the cyclist's outing more enjoyable for both cyclist and pet. U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,646 to White entitled “Pet Carrier for Bicycle,” discloses a pet carrier that is affixed to a rack mounted above the rear wheel of the bicycle. The carrier has a cover such that the pet can be completely enclosed, or the cover may be opened such that the pet can extend its head from the carrier. However, due to the location of the carrier, the carrier can accommodate only a smaller pet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,843 to Lazides entitled “Pet Mobile,” appears to disclose a pet carrier with a foldable handle and retractable wheels, the wheels in a down position when the carrier is to be moved by being wheeled about. U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,793 to Leader et al. entitled “Mobile Pet Carrier,” appears to disclose a cage-like enclosure that is mounted on a carriage with wheels and a handle, for pushing the carriage/enclosure combination. U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,425 to French entitled, “Pet Trailer,” appears to disclose a trailer adapted to be towed behind a car, and adapted for carrying pets such as dogs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,874 to Ravin, entitled “Pet Carrier,” appears to disclose a pet carrier adapted for use with a bicycle or motorcycle. The carrier does not have a cover, but is open, and can be mounted on a rack above the rear wheel of the vehicle or can be towed behind the vehicle. The carrier includes a structure in the interior of the carrier, where the pet can be secured. U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,769 to Doyle et al. entitled “Pet Transporter for a Bicycle,” appears to disclose a pet transporter that includes an enclosed housing for the pet. Four wheels are releasably attached to the bottom of the housing, and an elongated member connects the housing to a bicycle chair mount. It appears that a number of tools are required to assemble and disassemble the pet transporter.
A pet carrier mounted on a rack above the rear wheel of a bicycle limits the size of the pet that may accompany a cyclist to only a relatively small pet. This type of pet carrier is not designed for the owner of a larger pet. Other of the pet carriers are not designed to be towed behind a bicycle, but are used similar to a stroller and, therefore are not useful to a cyclist desiring to take a pet along on a bicycle ride. Yet other pet transporters that are designed to be towed by a bicycle may provide an open compartment for the pet, allowing road debris and mud to be kicked-up onto the pet by the rear tire of the bicycle. The open compartment may also tempt the pet to attempt to jump out of the compartment, thus potentially upsetting the carrier and the bicycle. Some pet transporters have a high center of gravity, which makes the transporter more prone to tipping, which may result in the bicycle also tipping over. In addition, some pet transporters attach to the bicycle at the seat post, which may cause the attachment arm to rub against the wheel when traversing uneven terrain, and cause the pet transporter and/or bicycle to tip. Further, some pet transporters are not easily assembled and disassembled for storage. Therefore, the transporter may take up storage space or may be time-consuming to assemble such that it is not used often.
Therefore, there is a need for a pet transporter apparatus that addresses the various needs of the prior art.